


Bentou for Two

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Nobuta wo Produce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-25
Updated: 2007-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-25 07:08:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1638179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mariko and Nobuko befriend one another.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bentou for Two

**Author's Note:**

> Much, much gratitude goes to hhertzof on lj for providing me with a last-minute beta!
> 
> Written for Cyn

 

 

I. 

The square flat box, blue with green stripes, held a couple of egg rolls, some boiled vegetables, and a patch of rice with a pig's face drawn onto it with gome seeds. Nobuko started at it, then at Mariko, and then back at the bentou box. 

"I wasn't sure what you like to eat," Mariko apologized. "If you don't like it, you can pull out that "TERRIBLE" sign you have."

"N, no," Nobuko said, "It-- it looks great. I was just confused-- I thought it was for me."

Mariko handed her a pair of chopsticks, green with blue stripes. "It is." At Nobuko's unending stare, she continued. "Would it make you feel better if I said that it's because I miss making lunches for Shuji?" Nobuko nodded. "Well, dig in, then," Mariko smiled.

II. 

The following day, Nobuko pulled out her own bentou box, pink, and thrust it at Mariko. "Made it for you," she mumbled.

"Thanks," Mariko said, and handed the one she made over to Nobuko. 

It became their daily lunch ritual, eating the bentou the other had made. 

III.

A week into the new semester, Mariko saw Nobuko dash up the stairs, clutching something to her chest. Mariko hesitated for a moment, not sure whether they knew each other well enough to intentionally barge into one another's private moments, but then decided to follow her, all the way to the roof.

Beneath the water tower, Nobuko clutched a piece of paper so close it hid her face. 

Mariko didn't ask what it was; just waited for Nobuko to be ready to say something. 

Nobuko finally finished reading, lowering the paper. She was smiling slightly, in her shy, Nobuko way, as if she still couldn't believe she were capable of such a thing. "It's from Akira," she said. "He says that it's `uuuunki' over there."

"Unki?" 

"Unki." Nobuko showed her; indeed, `uuuunki' was written out in katakana, twice as large as any of the other words. There were also doodles all over the page, of pigs in capes and what looked suspiciously like a grumpy-faced Shuji. "It, it's a bit hard to understand without him here to say it out loud, but I think the sparkles he drew around it means it's a good thing..."

"I'm glad," Mariko said, smiling back at Nobuko.

Nobuko nodded vehemently. "It's the first letter he's sent, so I'm very, very happy."

"How about Shuji? Has he written?"

Nobuko folded the letter, carefully inserting it back into its envelope. "I-- I don't think he ever will."

IV.

Mariko noticed that Nobuko had started to go straight home after school each day. "Didn't you used to be a member of the video-club? My classmates really miss your show."

An apprehensive look flashed over Nobuko's face. "I only did that because-- because it was part of the plan. And the plan is over... I don't want to go back"

There was so much Mariko didn't understand about Nobuko. "Okay... but it's kind of sad not being in a club, isn't it?"

Nobuko shrugged. "Not really."

Mariko would've invited her to join her on the basketball team, but if Nobuko had been intimidated by the video club, which was relatively open and friendly, she couldn't imagine her playing sports. The other girls on her team were, for the most part, kind, but they were competitive as well. So Mariko tried for the next best thing: "Maybe you could come watch me practice, then."

She half-expected Nobuko to say no, but she was surprised with an "Okay."

V.

"Don't you get tired of watching?" Mariko asked during lunch, one day.

"No," Nobuko replied, munching thoughtfully on a takoyaki, "It's so good to see you play..."

Mariko grinned. "You say the strangest things, sometimes, Nobuko."

She seemed surprised. "Do I?"

"You do," Mariko confirmed. "It's a good thing," she added quickly, lest Nobuko take it the wrong way.

Nobuko nodded and ate another takoyaki. 

VI.

It took Mariko a while to realize this, but what with eating lunch together, sharing looks and waves during basketball practice, and walking back home together, she was spending half her free time with Nobuko. And she was enjoying herself.

She thought that Nobuko was happy, too, with the arrangement. At least, she certainly acted that way: Nobuko didn't stutter quite as much around her, and when they were alone, walking through the city crowds, she would sometimes go off on dreamy tangents before self-consciously stopping herself. 

However, receiving a letter from Akira was quite the surprise. Mariko could hardly believe what the name on the return address, but the envelope's contents confirmed it. The hand-writing was the same loopy one as in the letter Nobuko had showed her a few months back. Half in katakana, it read: "Marikooooo, Nobuko told me how you two have been hanging out. VERY GOOD. Keep it up! PS: If you hurt her, I will break you."

Beneath it was a drawing of a girl with long, black hair and a winking pig. Mariko assumed it to be a depiction of herself and Nobuta. 

VII.

They had already said their goodbyes and started on their separate paths towards their own homes when Mariko heard, from behind her, Nobuko suddenly declare: "I want to play with you."

Turning around, she saw that Nobuko's hands were closed up into fists and that she wore a frown, the same way when she did whenever she was thinking hard. 

"You mean hang out?" Mariko asked.

"Yes. No-- I mean, play basketball. The two of us."

Mariko wasn't sure why that made her happy, but it did. "We can go to the gym tomorrow morning, before class starts."

VIII.

Nobuko was already there by the time Mariko arrived, wearing her gym uniform and turning a basketball this and that way, studying it intently, as if to unlock deep secrets from it. "Ready?" Mariko asked. Nobuko nodded.

Because they didn't have gym class together, Mariko had never seen Nobuko play before. As Mariko had expected, Nobuko was hesitant, rarely letting herself impose herself enough to steal the ball. But sometimes, Nobuko would let out this snort, and the next thing Mariko knew, the ball was out of her hands. That's when that Mariko knew that, with some practice, Nobuko could be on the team. If she wanted.

Afterwards, as they changed into their regular uniforms, Mariko asked what had made Nobuko change her mind about playing. 

"It really is good to see you play," Nobuko explained. "It made me want to try..."

They smiled at one another. 

IX. 

A couple of weeks after their first game together, Nobuta handed a letter to Mariko. "Akira said to show you this."

In the midst of Akira's loopy handwriting, a cleaner, straighter style practically jumped off the page, it was so different. Then again, she'd recognize that handwriting anywhere. "I hear that you're getting along with Nobuko. I'm glad."

"That Shuji," Mariko said, fondly. 

"Does that count as writing to us?" Nobuko wondered out loud.

"I say that it does," Mariko returned the letter. "So are we still on for lunch?"

 


End file.
